Alchemy on GarageBand for Mac?

GarageBand includes Alchemy, one of the world’s most advanced synthesizers. Explore hundreds of Apple‑designed Patches, perfect for EDM, Hip Hop, Indie, Rock, and Pop music. Use the expressive Transform Pad to morph between sounds in real time, or just have fun using the simple Chord Strips that help anyone play like an expert.

It was the number one synth app on iOS for years, before being converted into one of the very best features in GarageBand for iOS and Logic Pro X, so why oh why do GarageBand for Mac users not have full access to Alchemy?

While a disappointing shortcoming of Apple’s desktop DAW, you can still squeeze a surprising amount of sweet synth-y goodness from what Alchemy features we DO have.

In the video tutorial below I show you how to make the most of Garageband for Mac’s stripped down version of Alchemy.

Apple made waves back in 2015 when it bought Camel Audio, the makers of the hugely popular freeware synth plug-in; Alchemy.

Garageband Apple

A fully featured and redesigned version of the synth has since appeared in Logic X and Mainstage, with GarageBand 10 getting a simplified version last year too.

Functioning almost identically to it’s (now unavailable) standalone app, Alchemy is a fantastic addition to GarageBand’s Touch Instruments. Accessible from the Keyboard Touch Instrument menu, there are over 150 Apple designed patches from a wide variety of genres to get stuck into.

Alchemy Synth Garageband Mac Download

In this video tutorial, I take an in depth look at how it works and demo some of my favourite sounds. I also talk a little about Apple’s controversial decision to limit Alchemy’s rollout to specific iDevices.